Mastectomy Sept 2011
Comments
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Hello Ladies - I haven't had any updates for a couple months.... just went back to PS for a check on the swelling. He said things look good - and we can schedule the perm implants.
So I am hoping to call the scheduler and maybe get something on the books for April....
I havent decided silcone or saline yet - but I guess I should get on that!
Lots of muscle and nerve spasms on my Lat side these last 2 weeks. ... PS says it's nothing. I hope so. I have been pretty cranky.
Anyway Ladies - I am still here with you all - thinking of you - and wishing you healing thoughts and happy days!
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Thanks for the updates ladies! I think of you all often, hoping all are moving ahead and enjoying some good parts of life. Tina, I can certainly empathize with the being pretty cranky!
Sarah, I am so excited for you! Please let us know how you manage your trip. I, for one, don't like to fly to begin with, and now that I am supposed to wear an LE sleeve if I fly or travel to altitude I just am telling everyone that I don't fly anymore. But it is awfully hard to see some of the world without flying, so maybe I will get past this. (The sleeve causes a lot of pain because the top of it hits right over the hypersensitive area on my arm and causes nerve pain, like a fire in my arm.) So please let us know how you do through airport security and the flight itself, and send us some pics!!!!
Groovygirls and others who have had a positive impact on others taking care of themselves: Well Done!
How are the chemo girls doing? Is everyone done with rads that were scheduled for rads? How are the reconstructions going?
Gentle hugs to all.
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Hey Linda - I'm still in the middle of rads. After today, 9 down of 28 required. Getting there!
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DT, you go, girl!!! I am assuming no weekend rads, so you should have a couple days off - enjoy!
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Yep, after 3:45 p.m...it's TGIF no weekend rads for me - wahoo!
Have a great weekend all. 0 -
Hello, everyone!
I had an operation on Feb9, they exchanged my TE( and found hole in it!), I was dizzy 3 days after
and had some pain...the same routine... vycodin...sleeping on the wedge...Thursday PS extended it a little, just 50 ml, and first time it hurted! If everything goes OK, MY 5TH OPERATION exchange to silikon will be in june.Go to work after 2 weeks, still weak.I am losing weight and it scares me...Of course, I am eating healthy, but still have nausea sometimes and gas problems, excuse me. It is already 1, 5 months after chemo, I am getting HERCEPTIN, but recovery goes slowly... I had IBS, but it is scary to think, what, if?
love and hugs to all of you...
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Olga,
So good to hear from you! You've had quite a rocky journey but I hope that now that you have a new TE, things will get easier. Digestive problems seem to go hand in hand with surgeries and chemo. Wishing only good things for you from now on.
Caryn0 -
Olga, so glad to hear from you! You have had a rough time, and getting energy back takes a LONG time! My MO told me it would take " a little while" after chemo, and I have since found out she meant 1-2 YEARS!!! So give yourself some time, rest when you need to, pace yourself. Well, that is what I have been told to do. I hate it when someone tells me that, I don't pace myself well and am frustrated and angry that I cannot go like the madwoman that I was.... but I am working on being patient with myself and trying to get more rest. And trying not to scream at the next person that tells me to rest and pace myself!
Caryn, how are you doing these days? You had a really rough time, too, and I am hoping you are back at work and doing what you love.
I am hanging in there, 24 hour rule in effect most of the time, taking it a day at a time.
Hugs to all of you.0 -
Hi Linda,
I've been doing well for quite a while. Went back to work mid-January and am thrilled to be a first grade teacher. Most days are busy beyond words, still too many medical appts., working out 5-6 days a week etc. But it beats being on medical leave.
About 3 weeks to go until my grandaughter's birth. I am so excited.
Sarah, or anyone else, check out my improved stewed prune recipe on the constipation thread (help me get through treatment).
Stay well, Caryn0 -
just came back from PS, bad news. rednessover TE and at home I noticed leaking outside. It is , probably, infection, and we probably gonna have another operation. I f it happens, I will ask them to remove both TE, I AM FED UP!
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Oh no olgah! I am soooooo sorry, and I can so understand why you'd be completely fed up at this point. You have been through so much. I understand what it is like to have complications you didn't expect - it wears a person down. Hugs to you!!!
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Olga, hugs! I had post-op infected seromas and was so glad I chose not to do reconstruction right away. I probably will end up not doing it at all, but it is still an option for me if I change my mind. If you HAVE to have the TEs taken out because of infection, give yourself plenty of time to heal.
I think "taking time" is so hard - we keep trying to hurry things up, get healed, get back to normal, but slowing down will probably be more helpful to get us there. All these setbacks, infections, pain, multiple medical appointments, poor sleeping, hot flashes, medication SEs.... all these really take it out of us, but things nearly always look different in 24 hours.0 -
Oh Olgah! I am so sorry. You have every right to be frustrated . I agree with Linda that taking some time to let your body heal after everything you have been thru may be the best medicine. Sending gentle hugs & puppy kisses...
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Olga,
So sorry that this is an issue that continues to bring you pain and frustration. My thoughts and prayers are with you.
Caryn0 -
Linda, you right, things do look differently today... yesterday I was a mess..But it not the end yet.
PS put some blue liquid in the TE to determine, where is coming from.If blue comes out- leaks from the TE( I just had it exchanged on Feb9 ), if another-it is coming from outside.14 days after surgery it still can leak...It is an inflammation, not the infection, but I have to take antibiotics and check what's going on. I look like burn victim, all red...have to keep gauze in bra.Next week he wants to expand again...och...
but Thank God for everything, and thank you ladies, for your thoughts and prayers...I HOPE, IHOPE, I HOPE it heals...so, it can be eather way, but I hope it works.Started taking TAMOXIFEN.Gives me hip pain.
Caryn, did you finish with your treatment ? What about you, Oddie, Dancetrancer and Linda?
my love and hugs to everyone, have a good weekend!
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Olga,
Glad to hear that today is looking better. The bc journey is a day by day trip. As for treatment, I will never finish because I am stage IV
but I'm doing pretty well. Went back to work in mid-January and am very happy. Finished rads to my femur in December. I'm facing a bit of a treatment diemna which you can read about in the stage IV forum. Have a peaceful weekend.
Caryn0 -
Olgah - glad today is better for you and hoping you heal well!
Caryn - I just read your thread. That is an incredibly difficult treatment dilemma. I wish I had some insight for you, but at least know I really empathize with not knowing how to make a decision when the research is scant. It makes the benefits vs. risk question very difficult to answer.
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Olgah ,
So glad you are doing better today. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other...Fingers crossed this works for you.
Caryn - I saw your thread and really feel for you with the dilema as I can see both sides. I know for me, I have made my treatment decisions based on my gut/heart so I recommend you do whatever feels right to you. And remember there is no right or wrong answer.. Hugs ...
As for me, I am 3 months into my 5 yr sentence of Tamoxifen. Really can't complain as the SE's for me are manageable.
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still leaking through little hole ... it has to heal somehow... I , probably, should stop knitting and driving...
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Caryn, I echo Odie's comments: Do what is right for you - what is in your heart/gut/mind?
Oglah, so sorry you are still leaking - giving up knitting & driving just doesn't seem fair.... do you think that is really waht is aggravating it? Hope you get some resolution to this soon.
DT, how are things going for you? Tina, Sarah, & everyone - hope you are all continuing to heal.
I have had a few days of better energy, for which I am very grateful.
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Hello ladies - checking in with you - I scheduled my exchange April 20,2012. Cannot Wait.
Had a difficult weekend as another sister was diagnosed with Invasive Ductal Carcinoma - 43 years old 4 kids... my husband and I spent most of yesterday with them.
I have given her the link to the discussion boards here and told her what a blessing this site has been.
Anyone have any resources to share with her on talking to your kids about cancer? She has 3 boys and a girl - ranging from age 3 to 16. Thanks everyone -
Always have you in my thoughts and prayers. Tina
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Tina, I am SO sorry to hear about your sister. My best friend died of ovarian cancer when her daughter was 12. Heartbreaking. I don't know what you say to kids. We need an emoticon for "heart breaking." Prayers for you and your sister and your families.
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Linda - I am sorry to confuse you - I didn't mean MY sister - I just meant another one of us... We are all sisters joined by BC...
But thank you for your prayers - I know my friend would appreciate them! Thank you for your kindness as always !!! Tina
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Tina, yes, we ARE all sisters in this! (and I am so easily confused these days.... not sure if it is chemo brain - I refuse to give in to THAT! - or old age or stress and multitasking....)
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Hello ladies - away for a week and so much to catch up on!
Olgah - Ugh. I hope you are hanging in there. I'll be checking in here to see how you're doing. I don't blame you for wanting them yanked if there is another problem. You've had enough problems!
Tina - another day, another woman dx'd. It's so awful. I don't have great ideas for resources for talking to kids, but BCO has this: http://www.breastcancer.org/tips/telling_family/young_kids.jsp and it's essentially what we did. We kept emotion out of it, presented the facts, and let our daughter know that she could ask anything, any time, and that we'd give her whatever info. we had. She's 8 and it turned out to be somewhat of a non-event. She was more p.o'd that the routine was off than anything else! And hooray for a scheduled date for exchange! It's about time. I hope those twinges subside.
DT - hashmarks on the prison cell wall . . . counting down to the end of rads. hope your skin's holding out and you're not too pooped.
Linda - 1-2 years is about right - when I was 32, it was 1 year before I felt like myself again after surgery, chemo & rads . . . so I can imagine it'd be longer at this point or beyond!
So we got back Friday after a week in the Turks & Caicos - it was DREAMY. This was our second time at this same spot, so I knew what to expect, but man, I needed a vacation. I truly relaxed for the first time since June when I was dx'd. Friends of ours came with us, so it was a week of fun w/friends and the kids . . . too much junk food, a lot of sun - just what the doctor ordered.
No issues whatsoever with security or with flying. I brought my cards for my implants, just in case, but they stayed in my wallet. Linda - if you didn't have the sensitivity, I don't think you'd find it too awful to fly w/a sleeve - I did it after my first surgery years ago, and while it wasn't ideal, it made me feel more secure. Hopefully that nerve stuff will calm down and you can decide if you want to go for it or not. In some ways, I think traveling away from home/cancer/docs can be REALLY healing - reminds you of all else that is going on in the world! But you need to be comfortable.
I'm off to do a little reading and to hit the sack. While I'd say I'm almost "normal" again, I can't bounce back from late nights/really early mornings like I used to . . . the last frontier of recovery for me.
Hugs to all,
Sarah
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Hello, ladies!
I was at PS yesterday and he did not expand me this time, because I was leaking through Sunday.He told me to take Claritin because of redness, he thinks I am sensitive and I have also inflammation.Next expanding, probably, on Friday, I hope, I won't leak after that.I think Herceptin and low RBC don't help to heal.
They had a story on local WRAL TV - the teacher assistant was fired, because of her long LOA.She had stage 3 BC, went through rads and chemo,was out of work since 2010, had infections, now they found mets in her spinal, and she got fired. They asked her to sign resignment first, she refused.I forgot exactly how they motivated it, they mentioned smth about school interests.This story is just horrible.I am so sorry for her.
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Caryn my thoughts and prayers with you....
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Hi Ladies
I have been MIA - work has been crazy busy. I just wanted to pop in and let you all know I am thinking about your and hope and prayer that you all are moving on and getting back to a normal life.
Sarah - yea to the vacation.
Olgah - you have had such a hard road I am sending you tons of prayers.
Caryn - you are in my thoughts and prayers
DT - I hope rads are not too bad for you.
update on me. I had my muga yesterday and it showed a 19% decrease in my heart function (thanks herceptin) they than did an echo and luckily I didn't have any permanent damage, but my last 4 herceptin treatments have been put on hold for a month to give my heart a chance to heal. It sucks because I was getting so close to the finish line. but as my onc told me think about the big picture a short delay will help keep my heart health.
sending everyone a hug...
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I know you ladies have had some time out from your surgery. I had a bmx with TE on 02/13/12 and it hurt like crazy for 2 wks and I went to the GP and got more pain pills but now its doesnt hurt just feels tight off & on. However, I am starting to feel depressed. I have an appt to see a psychologist at the Cancer Ctr next Tues but whenever I look at my chest I just start crying. Does it ever get better? I got my fiance and I dunno what to do about him now. I cant stand the thought of him seeing me like this. My non cancer side looks reasonable just 2 lines on each side where nip was but the cancer side is all weird and looks like all twisted and red with the black sutures and the side near the arm is caved in cause I had a tiny piece off the org mass that was in there deep. I should be happy the nodes were clear and the onc just gave me Arimidex but I feel so sad to see how I look. I hate this. Can the PS really make it look better?
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margie, bummer about the heart issue with Herceptin and the delay. It's hard to see the finish line pushed out, I know. You WILL get there though!
layla, I will let the ladies who have had implants share any wisdom they have with you.
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